10 Times WWE Turned Trash Into Treasure (... And YOU Didn't Notice!)

9. Strike Force Blows The Can-Am Connection Out Of The Water

Chelsea Green
WWE

For the World Wrestling Federation, they had quite the conundrum on their hands back in 1987. After being pushed as a rising babyface tag team with championship gold seemingly in their future, the Can-Am Connection pairing of Rick Martel and Tom Zenk was abruptly disbanded when Zenk quit the company.

With the Connection in the middle of a rivalry with the Islanders, WWF was forced to think on their feet. The result, was the very real departure of Zenk was worked into this feud, with Haku and Tama claiming the Z-Man had quite the company because he was so scared of them.

From there, a two-on-one beatdown from the Islanders on Rick Martel led to Tito Santana - who was on Spanish commentary duties at the time - making the save, and thus Strike Force was formed.

Where the "didn't notice" element of all of this is concerned, is in how WWF's handling of this situation made people immediately forget about Tom Zenk and the Can-Am Connection. And while the Connection was an over act, it was nowhere near as over as the pairing of Martel and Santana - as reflected by Strike Force getting an impressive near-two-year run together, a 152-day reign as Tag Team Champions, and then becoming embroiled in a heated rivalry when Martel turned on Tito in early 1989.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.